On CBS Evening News (8/13/13), anchor Scott Pelley gave viewers a brief—and very misleading—update on Edward Snowden:
In an interview today, Edward Snowden appears to describe himself as a spy. Snowden is the National Security Agency computer specialist who spilled some of America’s top surveillance secrets. The New York Times asked Snowden about his collaboration with a reporter and Snowden replied, “As one might imagine, normally spies allergically avoid contact with reporters or media.” Snowden, wanted by the United States, is being harbored by Russia.
By highlighting this comment, CBS is suggesting that Snowden made some kind of important admission with his use of the word “spies.” Couple that with Pelley referencing the “collaboration” with an unnamed journalist—presumably Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian—and you can put the pieces together: Snowden, now “being harbored by Russia,” was acting as a spy when he “spilled” those secrets, with Greenwald his collaborator.
Sure, it’s not as alarming as, say, NBC‘s David Gregory musing about whether or not Greenwald should be arrested, but it’s striking language nonetheless.
A more plausible explanation for Snowden’s comments is that he was referring to his work for the CIA and the National Security Agency. His comment continued: “…so I was a virgin source—everything was a surprise.” He’s saying he didn’t have experience dealing with the media prior to talking to Greenwald. Why not? Because he had been working at secrecy-obsessed US spy agencies. Pelley appears to misconstrue this as an admission that Snowden was working for a foreign government—perhaps under the assumption that the United States has “intelligence officers” and only other countries have “spies.”
Snowden has specifically denied being this kind of spy: “Ask yourself: If I were a Chinese spy, why wouldn’t I have flown directly into Beijing? I could be living in a palace petting a phoenix by now…. I only work with journalists.”
Pelley isn’t the only one using odd language to describe Snowden. On NBC Nightly News, as Huffington Post‘s Michael Calderone (8/8/13) reported, anchor Lester Holt referred to “accused American spy Edward Snowden.” The newscast actually changed the language on the web version of the newscast, calling him then “admitted NSA leaker.” NBC admitted the change to Calderone, but defended it based on the fact that Snowden was charged with espionage. That’s a rather slippery defense, given the Obama administration’s willingness to charge an array of whistleblowers under the Espionage Act.
Besides, these examples, though, there is a sense among some elite pundits and journalists is that Edward Snowden is an unsympathetic, unlikable character—and they seem to think the public thinks so too. As New York Times columnist Tom Friedman (8/14/13) put it, since Barack Obama is talking about privacy reforms, Snowden needs to make a second impression with the public:
Snowden deserves a chance to make a second impression—that he truly is a whistleblower, not a traitor. The fact is, he dumped his data and fled to countries that are hostile to us and to the very principles he espoused. To make a second impression, Snowden would need to come home, make his case and face his accusers. It would mean risking a lengthy jail term, but also trusting the fair-mindedness of the American people, who, I believe, will not allow an authentic whistleblower to be unfairly punished.
Friedman’s not alone; on CBS‘s Face the Nation (8/4/13), Washington Post reporter Dan Balz claimed that Snowden “has become a less sympathetic figure the longer he has been there, based on a lot of the evidence that we’ve seen.” And the show’s host, Bob Schieffer, pondered: “Would you agree that Snowden has pretty much…forfeited any hope, if he ever thought he could be seen as a hero to the American people?”
But it’s not clear that the public feels this way. As Trevor Timm (Politico, 8/10/13) pointed out:
While the administration certainly doesn’t believe Snowden is patriotic, Americans do. A Quinnipiac poll conducted this month found people agreed, 55 percent to 34 percent, that he is a whistleblower—a large margin that crossed party, gender and age lines. A recent Reuters poll showed only 31 percent of the public thought he should be prosecuted.
It doesn’t seem like the problem is that Snowden needs to “reintroduce” himself to the public, but it’s hard to have a real discussion about him when so many in the media have already decided they don’t like him.
Snowden IS a hero. The true enemies of freedom are the people who believe that governments should be spying on their own people, not those who work to expose such Orwellian behaviour.
I do not care where Snowden goes to escape capture and potential torture or ‘rendition’ by the US. He will always remain one of the great heroes of human freedom.
“Snowden replied, ‘… normally spies allergically avoid contact with reporters or media.'” ….
“A more plausible explanation for Snowden’s comments is that he was referring to his work for the CIA and the National Security Agency.”
Or maybe he was pointing out the contrast to demonstrate that he was not a spy.
On the other side, Pelley, Gregory, Holt, Balz and Schieffer may not be spies but they’re certainly government agents, conscious or not. And Friedman, NYT’s house liberal, is professionally naiive and duplicitous.
snowden is a hero – it’s the whistleblowers who keep a society free from those who would impose a dictatorship. No doubt our early founders would have registered as spies and traitors by the current poplution.
That is odd because many of the polls I’ve read say that many more Americans believe Snowden to be a whistleblower. Actually, it seems that if a person were a whistleblower ( saying that something is wrong in an illegal or immoral way, and is hurting the nation and the people,) then it seems that a whistleblower is by nature and definition a patriotic person who is upholding the oath to defend the Constitution. ( The Constitution, that priceless piece of paper that stands between the people and their future, and those who apparently want to rule the world!)
The fact that so many in Congress seem surprised to know of the height, length and breadth of this NSA action, and that some in Congress knew and used the’secret” definition to withhold informatiom others in Congress is strange too, and bothersome, and infuriating.
Even the originator of the Patriot Act is saying that THIS is not what he had created. I think that more Americans are bothered that so many in the Private Contractor Business are listening to Americans. Reading about the private sexual discussions of Iraqi soldiers to their wives etc. in America is a bit weird. They get paid $200,000 to be voyeurs? Weird, and Charles Manson, and so many others would do this for free. ; 0
Somehow, paying private contractors all that money to spy on intimate phone calls, and no doubt Congressional phone calls, and maybe even the “listeners” personal harassment calls against neighbors, relatives, or people that dissed them for a date. It’s probably a bad time to be a movie star too. : ) Professional athletes, anyone in the public eye….so who really is selling secrets to the gossip rags? Private Contractors? That’s not good.
NSA top people, what is to stop these “Lieteners” from listening from you too? Although, if caught they would probably utter the immortal Clapper phrase, when asked if they were spying: “No Not wittingly.” Perhaps these 3 words will replace the answer formerly know as taking the Fifth?
Private contractors doing all of this…well that’s just too much CORPORATE control over America and the world. So…a corporate entity can spy, listen in, but John or Mary Doe will find themseleves in the slammer? That’s such unequal treatment.Another reason to off Citizens United from the face of the earth..
I suppose that “Insider trading” is really secret now? Of course, Wall St. is not known for its “truthiness,” so maybe the”listeners” are getting burned too. : )
This is WRONG on so many levels…and major media, a SPY is like the person named Jonathan Pollard…that’s a spy. Who is writing your news copy, you silly talking heads? : )
It is also weird to say that Mr. Snowden has “gone over to the Russians.” well, he was in the airpoort when the U.S. killed his American passport. That was handled so badly. We would however, all like to know WHO said Mr. Snowden was on President Morales plane? There’s a Pultizer there for somebody!
I am so sorry, but this is a major FAIL for the USA, and it’s so major keystone cop that I can’t believe that we are allowed to keep nuclear weapons.
PLEASE Congress, the US is about to invaded by a foreign nation, a group called XL out of Canada. They are going to steal our water and our land, and most of all, our future. Please, this is what matters. if we have to spy on someone, please, do spy on them.
Mr Snowden is clearly a whistleblower, and considering what he gave up, a hero. Of course heroes usually get burned at the stake, and I fear this will happen to him (and Mr Assange). Whether you fight the German Nazi Party in1943, the Russian Communist Party in 1983, or the USA’s power in 2013, you will lose – but you will be remembered as a hero later. I am grateful to him for his sacrifice, and I think most thinking people are.
Mr Snowden is clearly a whistleblower, and considering what he gave up, a hero. Of course heroes usually get burned at the stake, and I fear this will happen to him (and Mr Assange). Whether you fight the German Nazi Party in 1943, the Russian Communist Party in 1983, or the USA’s power in 2013, you will lose – but you will be remembered as a hero later. I am grateful to him for his sacrifice, and I think most thinking people are.
Ed Snowden is a courageous American. If he came back home, he would be a political prisononer. How can anyone blame him for staying away?.
Unfortunately, too many Americans are ready and willing to drink the Kool-Aid when it comes to readily accepting what the corporate owned media spews today. You’d think the Ag-Gag laws alone would be transparently anti-public interest enough to turn their heads (revealing that their very food is becoming poisonous for profit’s sake, along with other perversions of reason), but alas the lowest common denominator among us has been taught carefully to hate whomever the stock holders fear. I can only imagine the powers behind these travesties of justice don’t have children over which to worry about the future…
Edward Snowden is a National Hero for exposing the elegal doings of the gov. Thank You Edward Snowden for your service to Americans
Fair is one of the exceptions in reporting the truth .The rest of the media are nothing but shills for the warmongers of the world.Unfortunately there are still too many that only rely on the verbal diarrhea from the MSM.
The mainstream media right, left, and center are essentially corporate shills for the 3 corporate branches of our government. They are afraid of whistleblowers like Snowden and Manning and therefore need to demonize them in every way possible.
“it’s hard to have a real discussion” you can stop it right there. Real discussion, in the corporate/government media? Real discussion stopped long ago in the corporate media about anything that truly matters more to the people opposed to mattering more to the government. Bob “the pablum peddler” Pelley, never made it on the journalism ship, and Bob Schieffer seems to have jumped ship. As an honest journalist he’s AWOL.
“The fact is, he dumped his data and fled to countries that are hostile to us and to the very principles he espoused…” Well duh! If Snowden fled to countries that weren’t hostile to the U.S he would be imprisoned by now. The man is a hero.
isn’t it a sick riot that THEY might call snowden a spy?
look at who’s SPYING 24/7 for years already and … will it be forever that they plan to spy and undermine all of our liberties, folks?
it’s idiocy to call snowden a spy just like it’s a sick joke that THEY call him or Bradley manning as guilty for aiding the enemy. LOOK who is aiding ” the enemy” if that be radical islamics at all?
how do we tolerate the lies and bull that the corporate empire tv channels give us? and they know that if they say things over and over people just tend to think they’re true facts. Goebbels, bernays, etc.
it’s propaganda and outright lying 101. none of these tv reporters are doing anything except presenting the propaganda and bull – and for the big bucks, of course- so they don’t care what they say.
reading the comments at huffington post about snowden, you’d think everything who spends their time there believes the lies about snowden.
it was sickening to read the comments there. do you think they’re all trolls?
OF COURSE WE HERE THINK SNOWDEN IS NOT A SPY !
INSTEAD WE KNOW THAT THE US GOVERNMENT PROTECTS A GIANT SPY SYSTEM AND BREAKS THE LAW AND MAKES A JOKE OF THE WHOLE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION BY DOING SO .
thank you to ed snowden and other decent truthtellers
for proving it to the world and to us.
we’ve got a huge problem. now what will we citizens do to prove it was worth your sacrifice and that our liberty AND YOURS is worth fighting for and getting BACK.
How do you define a whistleblower? Is he one that exposes wrong doing in his organization? Is he one that at personal jeopardy or expense publicly says what his organization is illegally doing?
Well…..????
Anyone who believes what the news media says is going to be misinformed…on purpose. Snowden is a real Hero…as opposed to the “heros” that the media want us to idolize, ie people who get PAID to do their job, whether it be police , fireman or what have you.
This man knowingly gave up a comfortable life in paradise to tell us the truth for a change. God will deal with those who harm a truth teller.
Snowden is a bona fide whistleblower and hero for ripping away the cant and actions undertaken pursuant to the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act, its kindred legislation, and its spigot of spending, which we’re protecting even as we throw social supports like food and housing under the bus.
Well he took the job, expressly to see if he could steal any information that he -acting as judge,jury,and dispensator of classified information saw fit to release.Some would call him a spy,a turncoat,a traitor. .Some would see that some of the information was actually useful in their war against the establishment,and call him a whistleblower/hero.Some would see that since he knew nothing going in about any illegal actions …that his actions were part and parcel of this generation that wants 15 minutes of fame and “damn the torpedos” ,or the consequences.Im with that group.I see him as a stupid,short sighted, young fool who actually did some good…..(and undoubtedly some bad).If you read the history of Benedict Arnold you will see that he had some(some i say) justification for his actions.And he tried to throw his case upon the world stage to prove his actions were noble and reasoned.And to his mind maybe they were.But of course history has not been so kind.I think history will not be so kind in this case either.And he will die a man without a country.His name written on some little grave marker in a windswept Russian field.Forgotten.A funny aside………Glen Beck has been for some time been saying that the government through the NSA /CIA is gathering information and storing it in that new top secret facility.Data mining he calls it.And it has appeared in several conservative type books.Do you think Snowden listened to Beck and took action?Or maybe he worked for Beck.Love this conspiracy nonsense.Maybe right now as we speak some staffer,or even a cabinet post, has a secret film device in the oval office.Filming all kinds of top secret meetings that he will release en masse …..along with the most important thing of all……a film of Obama getting bJobs from 19 year old interns.PROVING once and for all he is a retrobate,and should not grace that office.Whistle blowers.Heros.God the world has changed :)
And then the corporate conservatroll sheeple bleets.
“PROVING once and for all he is a retrobate,and should not grace that office.”
So if we need any more proof that the Corps Press Trolls will say black is white, and down is up, we need look no further.
I think personally the young man was foolish in his assessment and like too many young folks, went in with his eyes closed and let it overwhelm him. As one can note in the news, not a nation on earth is innocent with regards to spying on it’s citizens, and have done so since there was any kind of ‘government official’ from the time Ugg the caveman (hyperbole) first picked up his stone gavel and called to order the meeting of the leopard skins council, to determine what to do about he ‘bear skins’ who were a danger to them. He ends up being a firecracker in blizzard with respect to anything being accomplished and has only so far diverted attention (Often willing when it come to the Corpse Press Zombies) from other far more important actions needed.
Just like the when the dog gets into the trash can and drags out the old bones; you have to spank the dog (with a rolled up newspaper) and take it away, and put the garbage back in the garbage can, the get back to taking care of the house. It’s a given it will happen, and it’s a given your going to have to clean it up, but running around with our hands in the air cussing is not accomplishing anything.
@guy: Not all of the rest of the media is so corrupt. Try therealnews.com sometime; you will be surprised what kind of journalism can be had when its funding doesn’t come from corporations.
@michael: My sentiments exactly. Today’s 60 minutes is very different than the one I watched as a teenager. Back then they had real journalists, including a guy named Dan Rather (not to be confused with the neoliberal hack of many years later) who did some very daring and dangerous investigative journalism. Schieffer was one of the journalists on that show in the earlier years and also demonstrated some reporting chutzpah.
But Pelley — what part of the sky did he fall down from? I had never even heard of him before he joined the crew and seemed out of place there. It is the obvious inaccurate and deceptive faux journalism, which has transformed the once venerated 60 Minutes into yet one more TV show riding on the prestige it no longer resembles very much.
Again, I say that if anyone wants to see some very gutsy journalism, they can tune into therealnews.com and watch some very hardcore reporting from journalists on the front lines of the battles who risk life, limb, and maybe reputation in order to bring the truth to the US public.
Mr. Snowden apparently sees himself as a noble hero, striking a blow for freedom. Sorry about that, but he is actually just a confused young man who deluded himself into thinking he was going to become the pivot around which the world turned. I myself think the government has become far too intrusive into my personal life — as has social media — but if Snowden wanted to take a principled stand he would have done so, rather than running away to places where his presence muddies his message even more.
He and Bradley Manning are too of a kind — blown up by their own egos into seeing themselves as having a mission to save the world without the sense to know the harm they are doing.
Ray that would be a bulls eye
The corporate newsmedia pundits know that what Edward Snowden did and where he had to go for his safety reflects directly on the poor job they are doing in bringing truth to the American people. Most real journalism does not exist in America today.
@ Ray Firehock: You say Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning are “blown up by their own egos into seeing themselves as having a mission to save the world without the sense to know the harm they are doing.” How could you possibly know how they see themselves? Rather than offering such naive opinion, you might have elaborated on the harm they have done. Exactly what harm have they done and to whom?
I heard snowden was gay and he was sent to Russia by Obama to embarrass Putin the govts decision to outlaw any gay activities and that the US govt was ready to break its silence about everything snowden leaked anyhow. HE IS REALLY A SECRET AGENT FOR OBAMA
Jack…The Russians are among the best in the world when it comes to espionage.If you believe that they have not emptied every piece of information that Mr Snowden has in his possession you are living in ga ga land.Yeah a KGB fellow walks in and says give it to me now ,or I will put a bullet in your eye -after I throw you out a ten story window…after I drown you,electrocute you,and cut you into fish bait.And the Americans will thank me.Yeah mr child spy held his own. Dont bet the house on it.And if you don’t think any harm is done to undermine our security services when tons of information(top secret) is compromised you are a fool.You act like this is softball.Get a grip
GEE JACK they (who they are we don’t know) are ?QUESTIONING HIS “”PARTNER”” right now, Is dat da bullet???
It sure is interesting to see the authoritarians in the Democratic and Republican parties come together on Snowden. It’s even more fun to watch the Obama-haters join hands with sycophantic Obamabots to clout Snowden over the head. Many of our Snowden haters here seem to have gotten their ideas from bad old movies.
Find a copy of the movie SNEAKERS watch it and then ask if Snowden is a traitor or whistle blower
Spyoneer! Correspondingly, the precedent Snowden foothill expedition sets the standard for the final assault on the BushCObamanable Everest peak of perfidy upon US people!
http://www.tnfaceoutlet.com
What do you call Scott Pelley? “Media whore” comes to mind.